Dental syringes are hand-held devices for discharging fluids, such as pressurized air and water, into a patient's mouth. Such syringes are used by dentists and dental technicians for many dental procedures, including cleaning debris from a patient's teeth and mouth. The teeth and mouth are cleaned by spraying a stream of water, air or a combination of water and air from the syringe. A typical air-water syringe has a hand-piece, a syringe tip, and a connector adapted to releasably attach the syringe tip to the hand-piece.
Examples of connectors for use in connection with dental syringes include those described and disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,927,975, U.S. Pat. No. 6,250,931, U.S. Pat. No. 6,283,750 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,319,001, which are incorporated herein by reference.
In operation, a syringe tip is received in a connector adapted to connect the tip to the hand-piece. Fluids are conveyed through the hand piece and the connector to the tip which delivers the fluids to the patient's mouth.
Historically, syringe tips were constructed entirely of metal. A typical metal syringe tip was a tube within a tube in which the inner tube served as a water passageway and the outer tube served as a passageway for air, both of which were in communication with air and water conduits of the hand-piece. Metal syringe tips are reusable, but require sterilization between uses.
Disposable syringe tips have begun to replace metal syringe tips as a more convenient option and one that may minimize the risk of spreading infectious diseases from one patient to another. As with metal syringe tips, a typical disposable air-water syringe tip has discrete air and water passageways for communication with air and water passageways of the hand-piece.
While disposable syringe tips offer some advantages over metal syringe tips, a typical disposable syringe tip may not perform as well as a typical metal syringe tip.